a sparrow. The husband discovers that Amine steals out at nights and on one occasion he follows her. Sidi Nouman is relating these adventures to the Caliph Haroun Alraschid and he continues: “I saw her go into a burying place near our house; I then gained the end of a wall, which reached the burying place, and after having taken proper care not to be seen, I perceived Amine with a female Ghoul. Your Majesty know that Ghouls of either sex are demons, which wander about the fields. They commonly inhabit ruinous buildings, whence they issue suddenly and surprise passengers, whom they kill and devour. If they fail in meeting with travellers, they go by night into burying places, to dig up dead bodies, and feed upon them. I was both surprised and terrified, when I saw my wife with this Ghoul. They dug up together a dead body, which had been buried that very day, and the Ghoul several times cut off pieces of the flesh, which they both ate, as they sat upon the edge of the grave. They conversed together with great composure, during their savage and inhuman repast; but I was so far off that it was impossible for me to hear what they said, which, no doubt, was as extraordinary as their food, at the recollection of which I still shudder. When they had finished their horrid meal, they threw the remains of the carcase into the grave, which they filled again with the earth they had taken from it.” (Arabian Nights Entertainments, translated by the Rev. Edward Forster. New Edition. London, 1850, p. 399.)
When they are next at dinner Sidi Nouman remonstrating with his wife asks if the dishes before them are not as palatable as the flesh of a dead man. In a fury she dashes a cup of cold water into his face and bids him assume the form of a dog. After various adventures as a mongrel cur, he is restored to his original shape by a young maiden skilled in white magic, and this lady also provides him with a liquid which when thrown upon Amine with the words: “Receive the punishment of thy wickedness” transforms this dark sorceress into a mare. This animal is promptly led away to the stable.
This tale is not dissimilar to a history which is related by the Dominican, Mathias de Giraldo, who was an exorcist of the Inquisition, in his Histoire curieuse et pittoresque des sorciers, devins, magiciens, astrologues, voyants, revenants
